That's nice and all but you're still talking about spending 25 a month to subscribe to a game.
But the way you're wording it is if I spend the 25 dollars and get the latest version, I can update it with the public release and continue playing with the premium stuff?
My understanding would be I would only be keeping the premium things if I continued to pay 25 a month for the game which would be patently insane.
I don't even have to pay 10 dollars a month for a Runescape subscription, 25 a month to a game would be daylight highway robbery with complimentary unlubed sodomy.
But yeah if it's 25 dollars one time then sure no problem.
Retaining benefits is a bit of a complicated issue.
As I understand it, anything from the premium versions you have in a given save (unique slaves, weapons, quest lines etc.) you retain if you drop your subscription and change to the free versions, but only for that given run. If you ever start a new run, either just to try something new or because a previous save was wiped or incompatible (although the dev does at least try to maintain compatibility between versions) then the new save does not retain any access to your old subscriber benefits if it was created on the free version.
As an aside, I feel like your value for money framing for trying to understand tier benefits is never going to be able to be reconciled with the reality of it. The benefits themselves are not meant to be 'worth' the money paid for them, the value in contributing to the games development is that the game continues to be made, incentives have always been there just as a thank you to those who decide to open their wallet, or as an incentive for those inclined but otherwise on the fence.
If it helps, think of it like contributing to a some type of community drive or charity event, no one really gives a shit if the cakes are overpriced or the raffle prizes are a little underwhelming, the money is meant to be focused on the cause, anything else you get back is meant to be a side benefit at best.
Or if the charitable framing is a bit on the off-putting for a commercial product, think of it like a business giving you a free pen with your purchase, no one is expecting you to make the purchase (supporting the games continued development) for the free pen (the tier benefits) but it is meant to be a nice courtesy aside from the thing you actually doing.
So yeah, actually subscribing like all support of early access games is very much a luxury purchase, to be made when you have the kind of disposable income that throwing money at people who are making games that interest you just to ensure they get made doesn't sound like a colossal waste.
If that doesn't feel like a viable or rational purchase in your situation you can just wait for the rather substantial free updates with the rest of us.
